


Mass Effect: Alternate Timeline

by Elusive_son96



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Gen, Literature, Sci-Fi, fan fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-23
Updated: 2016-11-23
Packaged: 2018-09-01 17:55:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8632771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elusive_son96/pseuds/Elusive_son96
Summary: “There were timelines branching and branching, a mega-universe of universes, millions more every minute. Billions? Trillions? The universe split every time someone made a decision. Split, so that every decision ever made could go both ways. Every choice made by every man, woman, and child was reversed in the universe next door.”
  
  ― Larry Niven

 
      A series of oneshots dedicated to the what-if's of the Mass Effect timeline, not the major decisions, but the ones that were already decided for you.





	

**Author's Note:**

> “There were timelines branching and branching, a mega-universe of universes, millions more every minute. Billions? Trillions? The universe split every time someone made a decision. Split, so that every decision ever made could go both ways. Every choice made by every man, woman, and child was reversed in the universe next door.”   
>  ― Larry Niven
> 
>  
> 
>     A series of oneshots dedicated to the what-if's of the Mass Effect timeline, not the major decisions, but the ones that were already decided for you.  
> 

    I extended my hand towards my clone and told her to take it she asked me why she should, to which I told her so that she could live. She thought it over and for an instant she debated whether to do so or not. Begrudgingly she reached out and took my hand I pulled her up and she just walked off into the cargo hold, Wrex and Liara looked to me as if urging me to shoot her in the back. However, I shook my head and proceeded after my clone while my other two squadmates dispersed, she was leaning by the Normandy's elevator "why did you save me? If I was you I would've let me die" I pointed to her and leaned on the wall next to her, "technically you are me, just someone else entirely...besides I couldn't standby and watch myself die." She blew a gust of air from her mouth then rolled her eyes, "you're just looking for more people to bring into the cult of Shepard." Before I could respond EDI alerted me that she had retaken control of the Normandy, not long after Joker and Cortez brought Brooks in cuffs, Joker looked at both of us talking and froze in nervousness. "So which Shepard is the real Shepard?" the other Shepard rolled her eyes and pointed towards me, "she's the one you want." Joker cautiously approached and pointed to my clone, "so she's playing nice now?" I shrugged my shoulders to which I heard Brooks trying to convince the other Shepard to help her but her pleading fell on deaf ears. She then began talking nonsense on how I'll miss her, that was before she escaped her cuffs, as she ran the other Shepard pulled out her pistol and shot Brooks dead, "she might, but I won't, I hate cowards more than I do traitors." The other Shepard came up to me and asked what I had planned next for her, "I should arrest you..." the defeated Shepard accepted my statement as fact but was blindsided by what I said next "but I'm not going to, instead you're welcomed onto the Normandy if you want to that is?" She raised a curious and cautious brow, "even after I tried to kill you, steel your ship and your life?" I ran over the facts in my mind then leaned into her ear "yes but between us I've always wanted a sister." She took a step back with her arms raised, "woah! look I'm not here to make friends, I just want what's best for humanity, if that means I have to take a backseat to you then so be it, but don't try and be my friend, don't try to be my family, and don't you ever try to brainwash me into the cult of Shepard!"   
    I accepted her conditions then took a step back "so after we defeat the Reapers what are you going to do?" She said nothing, she only walked away and took her spot by the elevator. Wrex came up behind me and looked at me awkwardly, "so uh...is this a thing now? Two Shepards?" I nodded my head and walked off towards the elevator, the Normandy once again docked at drydock and the rest of everyone came in a shuttle. As soon as they all saw the other Shepard they drew their weapons and told me to get down. I refused to do so and told them that she wasn't an enemy anymore, everyone's mouth dropped. Reluctantly they all lowered their weapons but didn't holster them, that's when everyone just walked away to let the small army of engineers take care of the mess left by Brooks and my clone. By the time we made it back to the Silver Strip everyone went their own separate ways, I on the hand went to my apartment, my clone also tagged along, we entered it and she was partially awestruck by its size. "I'm sure you don't have a place to stay so feel free to make this your home," she raised a brow "what's the catch?" I shook my head to indicate that there wasn't any form of strings attached. Nonetheless she proceeded inside while maintaining eye contact with me, before doing anything else I told my clone that I had to go run some errands giving her time to get acquainted with the apartment. In that time I traveled back to the archives and undid everything my clone changed with regards to my spectre status. I returned to the apartment and was greeted by the mouthwatering smell of someone cooking, I alerted my clone that I had arrived but she ignored me. When I made my way to the kitchen I saw her cooking up a storm, I leaned over the counter and watched her "hmm, I can't cook to save my life, usually relied on MREs for daily nourishment." She did a flashy trick of throwing whatever she had into the air and catching it, "bah! Can't stand them myself, sure they'll keep you from dying of hunger but it's no replacement for the real food."   
    I smiled at the fact that my clone was lost in her cooking, she was in her own little world, "while I was learning to be human I read up on food dishes, besides protein bars and MREs I've never had the option to actually taste human food." She then turned her head and realized who she was talking to and suddenly became cold and distant, "What did I say! Don't try to brainwash me into your cult!" I backed off and walked over to the bar. I then poured myself a glass of Brandy, and took a seat on the couch, through the cling and clang of pots and pans my clone asked what I was drinking, I told her and she asked what did alcohol taste like. In stunned shock I turned my head then stood up, once again I made my way to the counter and offered my remaining drink to the clone. She put her pot down on the stove and took a sip of the iced drink, she nearly spat it onto the food but she endured and swallowed the little amount in her mouth, "that's disgusting...if that's what alcohol is like then I'd rather not taste it anymore." I took back my drink then explained the different types of alcoholic drinks available, I even went as far as to offer her a glass of red wine, to which she accepted. It went down without a struggle, she told me that she prefered that to my Brandy, she once again remembered who she was talking to and accused me of trying to induct her into my cult for the second time. Once again I backed off and kept myself occupied on my terminal, my clone came in with one of Anderson's journal entries. More importantly it was the one where he talked about me back when he was my Commanding Officer, "how did this Shepard become the Shepard that's sitting on that chair?" I looked up from the extranet site I was on, "the Shepard that Anderson is talking about never changed, she only got older and wiser...that happens when when you try to grow as a person, you should try it sometime." She took some offense to it and then came her attitude, "here comes that holier than thou attitude, everyone make way for Saint Shepard so that she may grace us with her presence." I took a deep breath and returned to the extranet site I was on, the clone took further offence "oh! so now that I'm here you're just going to ignore me, I'm Commander Shepard you don't get to ignore me!"  
    In that instant I snapped, I rose to my feet and slammed my hands onto the desk, "look here you cheap knockoff, there's only one Commander Shepard here and that's me, if you don't like that then maybe we should settle this once and for all!" She smiled and immediately pulled out her sidearm, I threw a book at her then disarmed her, "not here, the Armax Arena seems like a good outlet for your pent up aggression...what do you say?" With an angered face she scanned me from head to toe, she then accepted my offer, "let's make things more interesting, just you and me, and while you're at it how about you message the rest of your cult so that they can watch me defeat you." I gave her a competitive smile and agreed to her conditions, I then went onto my contacts and sent an invite to everyone possible, including the crew of the Normandy. She then stood up "what happens to the loser?" I thought for a few seconds, "the loser admits defeat to the victor." She seemed perplexed, downright insulted forcing me to sweeten the pot. The winner would also get to call themselves the real Commander Shepard, she then gladly accepted, to which I told her to not hold back because I wasn't going to. Two hours later as we made our way from the apartment complex we were greeted by a large crowd of people who were cheering us. Both of us were thoroughly confused, that's when I spotted a familiar red krogan armor, Wrex pushed his way out of the crowd and towards me. "Shepard! you are the real Shepard right?" my clone made a remark on how my time as the real Shepard was coming to a close but I nonetheless I confirmed Wrex's question. Then I gave him my own "what's with the crowd?" he shrugged his shoulders and that's when Joker and EDI came up behind Wrex. "That's my fault Commander, I couldn't stop EDI from publishing it on the extranet," I looked towards EDI, whose only defence was referencing the fact that in my email I had told everyone to tell everyone that I was going to fight myself.   
    Before I had a chance to explain to EDI what I meant, a large television screen appeared in front of the Armax Arena showing the Alliance News Network logo, then a news crew pushed themselves in front of me, the TV screen along with very loud amplifiers were broadcasting live. "Commander Shepard, Alliance News Network, what's this about you fighting yourself? It has the entire extranet in an uproar." My clone stepped next to me and suddenly the crowd grew silent along with every viewer tuned into the ANN broadcast, acting as fast as possible I hooked my arm around my clone, much to her disgust, "not many people know this but I actually have a twin sister, it was kept hush hush because of security reasons" I then leaned over to EDI, "but as it turns out my twin now wants to know who is better." My clone tried to correct my sentence but I just put my hand over her mouth and dragged her into the Arena, waiting for me were the rest of the Normandy crew. Garrus walked over to us "Shepard, normally watching you fight yourself is cause for concern but in this instance it not only gets us free stuff but it also gives us VIP access...so good luck." He pretty much spoke for everyone there, one by one they wished me luck. It got to the point where my clone got angry broke from my grasp and stormed inside herself, I proceeded in after her and was shocked to see and endless line of spectators buying tickets to see what might be the biggest fight in galactic history, besides the Reapers that is. I proceeded into the locker room and began selecting my weapons and armor, in the process my clone came up to next to me and just starred with utter hatred. "what? Did I try to induct you into my cult again?" she snarled like a rabid dog, "I hate you! I hate you! I really hate you!" That was the final straw that broke the camel's back, I slammed my locker door "why!? why do you hate me!?" In that instant she let it slip "because I'll never be you!" she realized what she said and retreated before I had a chance to retaliate.  
    As I made my way towards the elevator a representative approached me with a datapad, the representative asked me to fight under a pseudonym for easier identification. I typed in James' nickname for me-Lola-then I got onto the elevator and then it began to rise, that's when the announcer addressed the overly excited crowd. "Ladies and gentlemen, the greatest fight the galaxy has ever seen is about to begin! Two Shepards will face off in this Arena tonight, no one knows which of the two is going to win but what we do know is that if you miss this fight then you're probably already dead!" I looked up and saw the scoreboard with two names bisected and with ample space to keep score. "This special match will be five rounds, the first will be an accuracy round, it will be ten minutes, whoever can land the most shots on the other will win, the second is a test of brawn, a hand to hand fight, the third a test of strategic thinking and maneuverability, the fourth we call capture the citadel, the final will involve an all out assault where either Shepard can win." The crowd was eager to see the two of us go at each other's throats, that eagerness had reached both of us because we were jumping in place by the time the match start countdown had started. When we were finally allowed to proceed I got lost in the combat, seconds had slowed to minutes, while minutes became hours, I could only hear the muffled cheering of the crowd along with the semi-audible commentary as she and I traded shot after shot for several consecutive hours. By the end of the fourth round we were both dead even in points, she was breathing heavily and so was I, except the only difference now was that she was no longer calling out insults nor trying to actively anger me. Instead she was focused, and I could swear that she had a smile on her face, a shield barrier appeared and forced us both back into our corners.  
    The announcer was milking the crowd for every bit of energy he could, when he announced the final round the crowd cheered the hardest. The countdown finished and I immediately dove for cover, deploying both my attack drone and my sentry turret, it kept her suppressed while my drone moved up to shock her. This gave me the chance to attempt a classic flanking maneuver, I ran up to her cover while my drone kept her busy, then I peaked out and was met with a stream of bullets. She had deployed her own turret to cover her flank, she overloaded my drone then turned her attention to me, "what are you? Fresh out of bootcamp!" Knowing that neither one of us was going to get the edge in fighting I decided to take a page out of both the Turian superior firepower military doctrine and the Salarian first strike doctrine and instead stuck my rifle around the corner and unloaded into my clone's position. I then overloaded her turret while advancing on her position, when my weapon overheated my clone stuck her body up and prepared to fire. However I threw my rifle onto the floor and pulled out my Carnifex, using overload to not only remove her shields but to also to disrupt her from firing. As she stumbled back I threw another sentry turret and allowed it to unload on her as I relied on the accuracy of my Carnifex to finish off, she fell to the floor unable to move. That's when the game ending horn rang, I had three points to her two, the crowd cheered their heads off. Even though her armor lock was removed she laid there staring up at the roof, I walked over to her and kneeled so that I was closer to her. "Are you ok?" she nodded her head, "I didn't see that coming, it was so fast, I never had a chance did I?" I looked her in the face, then helped her to feet, I pointed to the scoreboard "you see that, I won by a single point, you could've won by a single point. You're just as good as me your only problem is that you don't let others in, you think that being a lone wolf makes you strong, no, the cult you keep referring to have gotten me out of more jams than you can possibly imagine, they have my back and I have theirs, and if you let me I'd like to have your back as well."  
    My words struck a nerve and a single tear rolled down her cheek, "but I'm just spare parts, I'm not even fit to pretend to be you..." before she could continue I interrupted her. "I don't want you to be me! Be yourself be what makes you happy, don't be a clone...be an individual," the clone stood quiet for several minutes, in that instance her shoulders dropped and for the second time in a row she smiled. "Being an individual sounds good, I'd like that...sister?" hearing her refer to me as her sister made me smile and embrace her in a hug. We then both walked off together, we emerged to a hall of screaming fans, everyone urging us for our signature, and we gave them out on our way to our apartment. She opened the door and with pep in her step she walked over to the kitchen, "so sister...I have to get used to that word, what do you want to do." I pointed to her and told her that we had to find her a first name, she immediately responded with Chloe Shepard, I nodded and introduced myself as Sarah Shepard. That's when a beeping from my terminal drew our attention, I pressed the button and an angered mother was on the other end "I didn't realize that I had two daughters! Sarah where did this other Shepard come from!? You have a lot of explaining to do!" That's when all three of us sat down and I told her the story of what happened, she gave me an earful but nonetheless she and Chloe began getting to know one another. When all was said and done mother hung up, pleasantly-worried that she now had two daughters to worry about, another knocking at my door introduced me to the remaining three councilors, Sparatus, Tevos, and Valern. "Councilors, this is a surprise, what are you doing here?" Sparatus and the rest of the councilors invited themselves in, that's when Chloe ran in and thoroughly regretted her decision. All three of the councilors crowded around the other Shepard and examined her head to toe, then they asked who the real Shepard was, it wasn't until I told them something only the real Shepard would know that they believed me.  
    They explained how they watched the match, if nothing else to see why the extranet was in an uproar and they were astounded to say the least. So much so that they wanted to make her a Spectre, naturally she tried to refuse but they brought up valid points on how she was able to stand toe to toe with me, the person who defeated their best Spectre, the person who repelled the Skyllian blitz, they also tacked on other superhuman deeds I did. She wasn't sure and asked them if she could think it over, they begrudgingly agreed and decided to explore my apartment, Chloe sought counsel with me and I told her what I told Ashley when she was a Spectre candidate. It's a big job, and it's a choice only she can make, she then went on to compare herself to me, I was then forced to remind her that she isn't me, that she is her own person. Thanking me she called over the other councilors and accepted their request, they inducted her into the Spectres and assigned her to the Normandy, where she was to be overseen by me. They left and I congratulated her on becoming a Spectre, we then decided to throw an induction/ gathering party for everyone who ever served on the Normandy.  



End file.
